It's Not a Method, It's My Life!

Am I a "method actor?"  Well, I do tend to totally identify with characters I am playing, and I do correlate my experience to the character I am playing. So I guess the answer would be "Yes!"

Yesterday, I played a character (see previous post), that looked "hungrily" at another character. How did I prepare? I didn't eat all day. So yes, I was hungry, really, really hungry. My character was supposed to be "deranged," and how did I embody derangement?

I stayed up late the night before playing a r&r show, and I got up really early, and I drank lots of coffee all day, and I jumped into a flurry of action all day before I arrived for the shoot. I spent the morning in the recording studio mixing tracks, so by the time I arrived at the little diner for the shoot late afternoon, I was tired, hungry, stoked up, jittery, and ready to do whatever the Director wanted me to do.

I was upgraded. I was given two lines that weren't in the script. I sat in a booth at a diner, before a plate of cold french fries. I don't eat French fries! I don't eat fried food! I always tell my friend that eating French fries is like "smoking a cigarette!" Still, I ate French fries. I did.  I sacrificed. I compromised. I plunged into the moment. I did it for the scene, for the Director, for "art!"

And just how did it all go over? I did my scene, I said my lines, I stared intently, wildly, madly at the camera and chomped on some fries. And when I finished my little scene the whole crew - Director, Lighting person, Cinematographer, Script person, Best Boy, and Grip all burst out in uproarious laughter. It was kind of stunning. We did another take, same thing. The second time I did it the camera guy was laughing so hard he could hardly keep the camera pointed at me.

Not sure if I will make the final cut or not! But it felt pretty good. I guess I can do deranged! Not sure if that's a good thing... or not... but there it is... my life.